Airbag on 85 vette?

HI, I am a newbie in search of my first vette, and will probably buy a mid 80's car... I notice that these cars have huge passenger side dashboards directly in front of the seat... Is this for an airbag?, or is it just padding? If just padding, what was Chevrolet thinking? If it is an airbag, is it defeatable? i.e. can I install a switch to turn it on and off? Thanks for helping out. I have owned classic mustangs for the last twenty years and have always loved corvettes, but they are new to me...

HI, I am a newbie in search of my first vette, and will probably buy a mid 80's car... I notice that these cars have huge passenger side dashboards directly in front of the seat... Is this for an airbag?, or is it just padding? If just padding, what was Chevrolet thinking? If it is an airbag, is it defeatable? i.e. can I install a switch to turn it on and off? Thanks for helping out. I have owned classic mustangs for the last twenty years and have always loved corvettes, but they are new to me...

If my memory serves me correctly after all these years.

The breadbox was GM's answer to non-mandated passive restraint systems from the feds. This was prior to driver side airbags which were a few years ahead of the passenger side airbags. It is nothing more that a big pad that you get to bounce off when you run into something.

When I bought my 86 someone had bandsaw cut a notch out of it,and put a portable TV in the dash.It was wired to VCR in the back storage compartment.It was probably cool back in the day,but it was all warped by the time I got it.